1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an automatic shift lever knob with an imbedded lock, and especially to an automatic shift lever knob pre-combined with a lock before being injection molded with and enveloped by plastic. By this, the lock and the casting of the knob can be combined as an integrate unit. And the locking member can be hidden therein. This can avoid dismantling of the lock. Thereby an effect of theft proofing can be attained.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional theft-proof devices used presently are divided mainly into the electronic type and the mechanical type. In activating of an electronic type device, the storage batteries for it is always turned on, thereby consumption of electric energy is astonishingly large. It is often that the energy of the storage batteries for such a device is exhausted to induce the result of unable of activating a car. Hence the effect of theft proofing is doubtful.
Theft-proof devices for shift levers are provided mainly for the purpose of preventing thieves from moving the shift levers. In a conventional theft-proof device for fixing a shift lever, a base is required to weld to the body of a car for mounting a lock. Then a U shaped rod loops the shift lever is secured on the lock to lock the shift lever.
Such a theft-proof device for a shift lever is supposed to cooperate with a U shaped rod. The weight of the U shaped rod (shall be made of steel with high strength) and the lock head (being of the same material as that of the U shaped rod) is so large that a user will feel very heavy in operation.
In view of the above stated disadvantages, the theft-proof locks for cars used presently are all stressed on the interiors of the shift levers. And the principal thereof is that a lock is used to control the motion of a push button on a shift lever or a link on the shift lever. While a lock provided inside of the head of a shift lever in the markets is completed mostly by the way that the head of the shift lever is injection molded with plastic material and is enveloped by plastic, and then is assembled with the lock. In this way, no matter how fine the design of the structure for combining of the casting and the lock is, there still are defects in cooperation between them. And this can destroy esthetic appearance of the head of the shift lever.
Moreover, when the head of the shift lever is combined with the lock, the connection portions on the lock and the head of the shift lever are all exposed. The locking elements of the lock and the shift lever are uneasy to be hidden and are subjected to illegal breakage and the lock is subjected to dismantling. Therefore, effect of theft proofing is largely reduced.
Further, castings of the knobs of conventional shift levers are all integrally formed by injection molding. When in molding of the castings of the knobs of the shift levers, a casting of a knob of a shift lever of specified suitable length is molded according to the desired size for the shift lever mechanism on a car of a specified type. The defects thereof are concluded as follows:
1. There are extremely various types of cars in the markets. Although the shapes of the knobs on shift levers of the same brand can be unified, however, specified lengths of various knobs on various shift levers are different in pursuance of the types of the cars and for being coincident with the human body engineering for drivers. In a factory for manufacturing cars of the same brand, shift levers are injection molded with and enveloped by plastic after the castings of the knobs of the shift levers of different specified lengths are manufactured according to the sizes of various types of cars. By the fact that the shapes of the peripheries of push buttons are complicated, it will be an unnecessary waste in increasing the cost of manufacturing molds if the castings of the knobs of the shift levers of different specified lengths are manufactured in pursuance of various types of cars. PA1 2. The lock manufacturers will design and make various shift-lever knobs in pursuance of the types of the cars. And specified castings of the shift-lever knobs shall be made before completion of the products of the shift-lever knobs. Although the specified shift-lever knobs are unified, the specified lengths thereof are different in pursuance of the types of the cars. Oppositely, the manufacturers shall make various specified castings of the shift-lever knobs. This makes the cost of the shift-lever knobs with locks very expensive under the situation that the cost of dies is unable to lower. PA1 3. A lock manufacturer shall open a mould for the casting of a shift-lever knob for every type of car, if any lock of a type of car goes not so well as what expected, big loss will result on the manufacturer.